King's Cradle
by mangoshakeplease
Summary: As always, Luffy was a super magnet that attracted the weirdest, most insane, most dangerous people in the world. It really made a brother worry. Eventual AceOC
1. The Promise

_**One Piece**_** belongs to Oda Eiichirou. No infringement was intended in the making of this story.**

* * *

**King's Cradle**

As always, Luffy was a super magnet that attracted the weirdest, most insane, most dangerous people in the world. It really made a brother worry. Eventual AceOC

* * *

_**Chapter One**_

**The Promise**

* * *

_**2 years ago . . . **_

The smell was absolutely horrible, and the garbage was probably only piled at a tenth of its original height. She couldn't even begin to imagine how people could have _lived_ here, let alone make a living.

The world really was a nasty place.

She nudged a broken music box with her boot-clad foot, and the headless ballerina fell right out. A garbled cacophony of something that probably used to be a piano solo played for about four seconds before the gears inside made a full stop.

"Oi! Shirokami-nee-san!"

She glanced up with watery eyes, her nose still covered with a handkerchief that barely just brought relief from the rancid stench of the entirety of the Gray Terminal.

A boy of around fifteen in an open, yellow button-up shirt with black hair and a straw hat was marching toward her, long limbs swinging as he moved.

He had wide eyes with a sort of blank look in them, she noted. But most of all, what she noticed was that he seemed supremely undeterred by the reeking stench of rotting everything around them.

She was kinda jealous of his level of ignorance.

He stopped right in front of her, glancing at the certain pile of garbage she had been staring and kicking at.

"What? Didja accidentally throw out something you weren't supposed to?" he asked with an exasperated voice that made her think he thought her extremely stupid for making such a mistake in the first place.

Her lip twitched, nearly curling into an angry smirk beneath the handkerchief she all but stuffed up her nose.

" . . . Just looking around," she replied airily, kicking at a random patch of dead soil. She would forgive and forget. For now. "Are you from the kingdom?"

He didn't miss a beat. "Nope. I'm from Foosha Village. You?"

She started walking away from the trash heap, and he followed. It would be hard trying to talk within breathing air of the Gray Terminal. "Traveling journalist," she told him. "I heard some rumors that there was something interesting in this island, so I came to take a look around."

"Something interesting, huh?" the boy repeated, scratching his head under his straw hat. "Nothing's really happened for a while. Shanks never came back, and Ace has been gone for almost a year now."

She blinked at him. "You don't mean . . . _the_ Red-Haired Shanks came _here_? When?"

He frowned, crossing his arms and tilting his head. "Who knows? I haven't seen him since I was a kid, and he gave me this hat." He patted the straw hat on his head. He seemed to remember some nice memories, since he started grinning like a fool. "He saved my life, and — . . . well, we kinda did make a promise that we'd meet again when I've become a great pirate! Then, I'll be able to hand this hat back to him!"

His grin was infectious, she figured out.

"Is that so?"

"You know Shanks, Shirokami-nee-san?" he asked jovially.

"Nobody's _not_ heard of Red-Haired Shanks," she said with a bit of an amused smile on her face. "He's one of the Four Emperors, after all. You'd have to be living under a rock to not have heard of the Yonkou."

Well, this peaceful place in the middle of the calmest sea in the world might have been a giant rock for all she knew. It was almost laughable how typical the daily lives of the people here were.

She didn't know of, nor could she understand this kind of life.

. . . Why was she in the East Blue again? Actually, scratch that — she had been interested in the mountain of garbage.

. . . Why _on earth_ had she been interested in the mountain of _garbage_ again?

"So, you're planning on going to the New World to meet Red-Hair?"

"Yep!" the boy replied brightly. "I'll definitely find the One Piece! I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the man who's gonna be Pirate King! "

"That's a nice dream," she replied benevolently. "'_The bigger, the better,_' they always say."

"What about you, nee-san?" Luffy asked her with a grin. "What's your dream?"

"Hm, 'dream', huh?" she muttered lightly. She tapped a finger to her chin, thinking. "I'm a journalist, so . . . maybe 'the greatest story ever told'?"

"That's a good dream, too," Luffy said. Then, a light bulb seemed to turn on his head. "I know! You can come with me! The future Pirate King's adventure is definitely gonna be the greatest story ever told!"

She chuckled lightly. "That'll be some adventure, I'm sure. So, when do you plan on setting sail for the Grand Line?"

"When I turn seventeen. So, in two years."

She smiled widely at him. "And, aside from us, who else is going to be on the crew?"

The boy crossed his arms again, thinking deeply. "Well, I'm the captain, and you're the logkeeper. We'll be needing a musician, too."

She broke out into a wide grin. "Can't have a pirate ship without music," she supplied happily.

"Damn right," the boy agreed readily. "Well, that's three crewmembers down. I suppose we can pick up some other interesting guys along the way. Ten people sound about enough."

"Ten people traversing the Grand Line in the Age of Pirates," she sighed, fighting back the wild laughter threatening to erupt. "That really will be some adventure. If I ever get a book published, I'm sure the masses will eat it right up. We'll be set for life."

"Oooh! I can have all the meat I want!" His eyes shone at the prospect.

"Yes, all the meat you could ever want," she laughed. They stopped walking when they reached the shoreline, and the seawater splashed against the rock formations. "Hey, Luffy-kun."

"Hm?"

She smiled at him as he tilted his head at her. She wasn't particularly fond of straightforward people, but this boy . . . — this boy was _different_, and she could sense it. He had a certain something in him. A certain . . . _charisma_.

"Why do you want the One Piece?"

"So I can be Pirate King, of course."

"Then, why do you want to be Pirate King?"

"'Cause the Pirate King is the guy who conquers the seas, and if you conquer the seas, then you pretty much have absolute freedom," he recited simply.

She stared at him for a few seconds before soundly concluding he was serious. She suddenly burst out into laughter, holding on to her stomach and crouching down into the sand. Luffy grinned and sat down on a nearby rock.

"I'll keep you to your word," she said after recovering from her fit, leaning back against the same rock was sitting on. She sat on the sand, turning her head up to the mid-afternoon sky. "'_The greatest story ever told_'."

He grinned. "'Course."

"Make it interesting for me, Pirate King," she said lazily, holding out her pinky for him to take.

"It's a promise!" he said, hooking his pinky around hers.

He really was a nice kid. "Make sure you find me before you enter the Grand Line."

He blinked at her. "Eh?"

She mock-frowned, playfully putting her hands on her hips.

"You don't expect me to while away my time on this boring island, don't you?" She even puffed her cheeks just for the effect. "Loguetown is the last stop before you enter the Grand Line. I'll be there in two years. Don't forget about me, okay?"

He 'hmph'ed. "I don't forget about nakama! Be there, and I'll definitely find you! I won't leave until you're on my ship!" he announced proudly.

He was practically bursting at the seams.

" . . . I'll hold you to that, Pirate King."

* * *

**Important Notes:**

'_Shirokami-nee-san_' can (very) loosely be translated as '_big sister with white hair_'.

* * *

**Not-so-Important Notes:**

I work on an outline for a pre-canon, Whitebeard Pirates (read: _Marco_)–focused monster fic, and this what I get.

OTL **Kemmasandi**, I totally blame you for making me feel guilty about planning to kill off Ace in that one. ;o; Now I'm too emotionally attached to him (after re-reading the Marineford arc *sobs hysterically*) _again_.

. . . Meh, whatever. Consider this as a warm-up in the _One Piece_ fandom. I've actually had Shirokami-nee-san (name will be revealed in the next chapter. Or the next, next chapter, depends really, LOL) for a few months now, ever since I started reading the manga. She wasn't really supposed to be paired with anyone; just another one of Luffy's weird recruits who was supposed to be temporary (just an adventure arc, or something; kinda like Vivi). But she eventually evolved, and for a time, I considered her being paired with Zoro, but then I realized that no one could replace Kuina, so she stayed single. :)

And then came fanfiction, then dA, then Kemmasandi, then the guilt, and then the emotional attachment to a certain older brother . . . OTL

Leave a review and tell me what you think~ X)


	2. Hakujou

_**One Piece**_** belongs to Oda Eiichirou. No infringement was intended in the making of this story.**

* * *

**King's Cradle**

As always, Luffy was a super magnet that attracted the weirdest, most insane, most dangerous people in the world. It really made a brother worry. Eventual AceOC

* * *

_**Chapter Two**_

**Hakujou**

* * *

'' . . . oh?"

"Hm? Found something interesting in the newspaper, oyaji?"

" . . . It's nothing. Something just reminded me of an old acquaintance."

* * *

"That's why I'm saying, Luffy," Usopp pressed, crossing his arms and shaking his head, "it's not physically possible to find someone who looks like that!"

"Hm?" Luffy frowned, looking at the picture he drew. Actually, it was less a _picture_ and more — . . . _thehellisitevensupposedtobe_? Yeah, that's it. "It's pretty much a perfect likeness."

"LIKE HELL IT IS!"

The Strawhats' captain recoiled a bit at his crewmembers' vicious roars.

"Okay, I got it, I got it!" he said hastily, crumpling the paper with the crudely drawn — _figure_ into a ball and promptly throwing it overboard. "Well, it's been two years so she might've changed a little. Let's just go into town and ask if anyone's seen a white-haired journalist nee-san!"

"Seriously," Zoro sighed, scratching the back of his head, "couldn't you have at least asked for a name?"

"Maa, it never really came up," Luffy replied airily, climbing onto the Merry's head. "In any case, she knows who I am, and that I'll be looking for her there, so just tell her you guys're with me!"

"How can you even be sure she'll be there?" Nami asked dubiously, placing a hand on her hip. "You said the last time you saw this white-haired nee-san of yours was two years ago, right?"

"We promised!" Luffy replied heartily. "I'll be the Pirate King, and Shirokami-nee-san will record my adventures!"

"But really, Luffy, how much do you even know about her?" Usopp asked. "You might be dense enough to keep promises to strangers, but how do you know she's the same? You even said that you only knew her for that one day!"

"Her dream was to write the 'greatest story ever told'!" Luffy exclaimed huffily, pointing a finger at Usopp. "What other adventure can that be besides the adventure of the next Pirate King?"

Sanji grunted, blowing out a stream of smoke and leaning back against the mast. "With crewmembers like this, our adventures are definitely going to be ones for the Brag Men."

* * *

"Ah! I'm so sorry!" Tashigi apologized. She reached into her pocket, pulling out her handkerchief and offering it to the person she had bumped into. "My glasses slipped! I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine," the woman she had bumped into replied. "It's just water."

Tashigi bowed and apologized once more. "I'm sorry! I'll pay for your drink!"

"Um, like I said," the woman replied with a short, amused chuckle. "It's just water. It didn't really cost anything."

Tashigi frowned, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. She was finally able to take a good look at the woman she had bumped into — fairly tall, extremely pale, with a short fringe of snow white hair peeking out from under her fedora. She looked like some kind of businesswoman, with her formal suit ensemble and shiny, black leather heels. Just judging by her features though, it was clear that this woman wasn't a resident of Loguetown, or even of East Blue. Maybe she was from that winter island in the Grand Line Tashigi had heard about from her captain — the one whose inhabitants had hair and skin as white as the snow that covered their island year-round, even in the summer.

Maybe. In any case, she was probably an executive on a business trip who just taking a much needed coffee break. This was a café, after all.

"Why don't you sit down and take a breather?" the woman offered. "You look quite frazzled."

"Oh, no! It's fine, really — " Tashigi tried to politely refuse her, but quickly found out that this woman was quite persuasively obstinate. Soon enough, she found herself seated on one of the tables set up outside the café, sitting across from the businesswoman, and being offered a plate of pastries.

"Have a cookie," the woman said, pushing the plate towards her.

Something must've shown in Tashigi's expression that the woman misunderstood. "They're oatmeal chocolate chip. You don't like it?"

"Ah, no! It's just — uh," Tashigi started lamely, but eventually settled on picking out the smallest cookie there and nibbling on the edge.

There was a certain glisten in this woman's eyes, and a certain lilt to her voice that made her hard to refuse.

Oh, Tashigi could tell she was majorly screwed.

The woman smiled as Tashigi set upon eating the cookie, drinking up the water in her Styrofoam cup in one gulp and pouring her coffee over the ice.

Most of the ice melted the moment the coffee was poured over.

"So, you're a Marine, huh?" the woman mused, still smiling at her. "You honestly look too cute for the job."

Tashigi stopped nibbling. No one had actually ever called her 'cute' to her face. She carried a sword with her at all times, after all.

"How could you tell?" she asked the woman. Still though, it was her break, and she had left her Marine jacket in her office. If this woman really was just a passing traveler, she couldn't possibly have known that she was a Marine.

"You smell heavily of cigar smoke," the woman smiled lightly. "High-quality stuff, too. Yet you hardly seem like the cigar type. Besides, the Marines' image is pretty good in this town, especially Captain Smoker's." She said the last part idly, swirling her cup of iced coffee.

"Ah, yes. Captain Smoker is a well-liked man in Loguetown," Tashigi stated, extremely proud of her captain. Though he definitely was quite rough around the edges, he was fair and kind (deep, _deep_ down).

But he really did smoke way too much. The entire headquarters always reeked of cigar smoke, the smell was practically stuck to the walls and furniture in his office, and it was extremely troubling that the scent was rubbing off on her clothes as well.

Either that, or this woman just had a very good nose.

"I'm Tashigi, by the way," she introduced herself.

"You can call me 'Rava'," the woman said, holding out a hand for Tashigi to take. "I'm actually here on business. I'm supposed to meet a client here in Loguetown. You wouldn't happen to know where — " she reached into the pocket of her blazer, unfolding a scrap of paper, "the Gold Roger Bar is?"

Tashigi was familiar with the name; it was mostly the Marines who frequented that place, after all. She knew that many of the non-ranked seamen on the base — and even Captain Smoker himself, now that she thought about it — went there occasionally. She had never been one for bars and drinking, though, so she hadn't actually been to the place before.

"The other Marines drop by that place a lot," Tashigi told Rava. "If you have the time to drop by Headquarters, I can ask someone to guide you there."

"The meet-up's still for this evening, so I don't mind waiting for a while," Rava replied happily, sipping on her cup of iced coffee. "Thanks a lot."

"It's no problem," Tashigi smiled, getting more comfortable around her. She didn't seem like such a bad person. "Consider it in exchange for the drink I spilt."

Rava laughed. "You're still on about that? It was just a cup of water."

"It was still my fault for bumping into you," Tashigi said.

There was a bit of a benevolent curve to her smile, Tashigi noted. A sort of regality in the air around her that made her presence imposing and somewhat stifling.

She was nearly a hundred percent sure that this woman specialized in negotiations.

"You're not going to let that go, are you?" Rava said, pressing the rim of the paper cup against her smiling lips.

Tashigi's nose latched on to the scent of apples in the air. She tried to reply with a smile, but it faltered slightly.

She swallowed. "Not quite yet, Rava-san."

* * *

Smoker found Tashigi talking to a woman in a business suit in the headquarters' main lobby at around a quarter past seven.

"Ah, Captain Smoker! Good evening!" Tashigi greeted enthusiastically.

His eyes flickered towards the unknown woman. Tall, with skin so pale it practically flushed white against the solid black of her suit. Her eyes were a dark stone gray — nearly the same shade as the blouse underneath her blazer, he noted — and she had a friendly, carefree smile on her face.

. . . That smile. It screamed ulterior motive.

"Who's your friend?"

"Ah, yes," Tashigi exclaimed. "Captain Smoker, this is Rava-san. She's an agent for a cartographic company, and she's here to pick up some maps from a certain Madame Emilia."

Smoker's brows rose at the familiar name. "The old bat's actually selling her maps?"

"Oh," the woman, Rava, interjected, her smile curling at the ends, "you're acquainted with the Madame?"

Smoker snorted. He always forgot that the old bat with the impossibly hard-core drinking capacity had come from a noble family.

After all, she was a greedy hag who would never, _ever_ share the hard-earned fruits of her nearly three decades of seafaring experience, especially not to anyone who planned on mass-producing it just to make a beli or two hundred million.

"Bet she's meeting you at the old Gold Roger, eh," Smoker drawled, letting out a stream of smoke right after. He stared at the suspicious woman from the corners of his eyes, watching her every reaction.

"Yes, actually," Rava said with an amused smile.

"I'm going to ask one of the ensigns to accompany us there," Tashigi said, probably not even having the slightest inkling of suspicion towards unknown woman. "I hope that's alright."

"No need," the captain said. Obviously, Tashigi wasn't aware of just how shady a place the Gold Roger Bar was. It was precisely because of its general shifty environment that he had some people check up on it every now and then. "I was planning on heading there after my patrol round, but I'll drop you two off first."

"Really? Thank you, Captain!" Tashigi exclaimed.

Smoker let out another cloud of smoke before making his way out the door. He gave the woman in the suit another once over as he passed her.

"What company do you work for, again?" Smoker asked.

Because, really, that old bat wouldn't sell her maps even in exchange for all the treasure in the world _and_ the One Piece.

"Merka Maps, from West Blue," Rava replied.

"How'd you get the old bat to sell you her maps? She's pretty greedy about her stuff," Smoker commented lightly.

A beat. "The owner, Merka Tohru-sama, was the one who ironed out the deal with the Madam," she replied. "I'm just here to pick up the maps, actually."

Smoker tried to analyze her tone of voice. Light, airy. With something a bit like hesitance mixed in, and certain tinge of fear when she said her boss's name.

He'd have to get someone to make a background check on this 'Merka Tohru' person when they got back to headquarters. He glanced back and saw the slight strain in her smile.

He returned his gaze to the street in front of him.

"Is that so."

* * *

"Ah."

Well, would you look at that? Zoro really had the devil's luck today.

"Oi. Shirokami-nee-san."

The woman with the long white hair tied into a braid that draped over her shoulders turned her head.

He glanced at what she was looking at. A café's display of pastries.

She stared at him with a blank look in her dark eyes.

"Uh, would you perhaps be referring to me?" she asked hesitantly.

"Do you see anyone else with white hair?" Zoro replied tiredly.

Her gaze flickered to the old couple in one of the umbrella-covered tables outside the café.

"That counts as a 'nee-san'," Zoro said through gritted teeth.

Her mouth formed a small 'oh' of realization.

She looked back at him, and he could see her giving him a once over.

" . . . Do I know you?" she asked with a bit of an uncertain sort of pep to her voice.

"No, actually . . . "

"I see." She paused, tucking a bit of her fringe behind her ear. She smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Rea."

He stared at the pale white hand extended out to him.

She had small hands that were quite disproportionate to the rest of her, considering that she was at least a couple of centimeters taller than him (though she was wearing heels).

"Are you a journalist?" he asked bluntly, ignoring the hand offered.

She dropped her arm back to her side with a slight jut of her lower lip, clearly a bit offended.

"Um, no. I'm a barmaid, actually," she replied, a bit hesitant. "Do I . . . look like journalist?"

Zoro clicked his tongue. Guess his devil's luck ran out at the last moment.

"Yeah, sorry, forget it," he said, scratching the back of his head. "I got the wrong the person."

She pursed her lips, clasping her hands behind her.

"Looking for a journalist?"

"My . . . boss is looking for an old friend," he started. "'White-haired journalist nee-san'." He smiled humorlessly. "You wouldn't perhaps know anyone that fits the description, would you?"

"I just moved here, actually," she said airily, playfully sticking her tongue out at him. The way she acted and talked like a little kid was really disturbing once you considered her height. Why was she even wearing heels when she was already so tall? "I don't know that many people yet."

Zoro sighed again, sticking his thumbs into his haramaki.

"Sorry for the trouble, then." He nodded once at her before walking away.

* * *

The little girl was nearly invisible on her bed, dressed in a creamy white sleeping gown, snow white hair sprawled across colorless pillows, her entire form swathed in even whiter sheets.

The curtains were sharply pulled open, sunlight sparkling against all the white surfaces in the room.

"It is morning, Your Highness."

The little girl pressed her lids closer, grunting against the spilled sunshine.

"This isn't the sky I want to see," she mumbled, turning her back to the open window.

* * *

**Important Notes:**

The chapter title, "_Hakujou_", can translate into either "_white woman_", "_confession_", or "_cold-hearted/heartless/unfeeling/cruel_".

* * *

**Not-So-Important Notes:**

_Goddamn_, Smoker x Tashigi feels. O_O

Also, this is going to stick largely to manga canon, though there will be some anime-verse mixed in (especially during the Alabasta arc and the pre-Thriller Bark arcs). No anime-only arcs, though.

Also, hooray schoolwork. \(_TTATT_)/ Well, semestral break is on mid-October, so it might be safe to say that the next chapter should come out around the end of next month. Then again exams are near, so . . . _

Also, puns and foreshadowing fails all over the chapter. OTL

Review? *puppy-dog eyes*


	3. The Reunion

**A/N:** Happy October, OTL. Really, really sorry, you guys, but I had a hard time with the part that segues into manga. I didn't want to make it seem like just narration, but I just couldn't get it to sound right. It's been quite a while, and I'm really sorry for the wait. Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, anyway. :D Thanks for all the support from last chapter. :)

* * *

_**One Piece**_** belongs to Oda Eiichirou. No infringement was intended in the making of this story.**

* * *

**King's Cradle**

As always, Luffy was a super magnet that attracted the weirdest, most insane, most dangerous people in the world. It really made a brother worry. Eventual AceOC

* * *

_**Chapter Three**_

**The Reunion**

* * *

"Yo!"

A smile stretched out on the young woman's face, a hand raised in greeting. She leant forward, carefully teetering on the edge of the stone railing of a balcony eight stories up. Her long braid draped over her shoulder, the end just brushing over the hemline of her gray dress.

The cloaked figure sauntered forward, silently, imposingly. He stopped right beside the young woman, crouching down to the floor beside her seat on the railing.

The young woman stepped a heeled foot on the suitcase by her feet—barely just avoiding hitting the cloaked man's hand, which had stretched out to reach for it.

"It's been a while," the young woman said with a curled smile.

The cloaked figure sighed, falling back to fully sit on the floor beside the suitcase. The hood over his face was pulled back a bit, revealing a bright red tattoo on one side of his face.

"I wouldn't call it 'a while' when we've never even formally met in person before, hm," the man said.

"Aww, come on," the woman said with a teasing tone. "I've snuck aboard quite a few of your ships while you were relocating people. Oh, and I like that new tattoo."

The man frowned, brushes of dirty blond hair sticking to his face, right were the tattoo was. "You're lucky I don't tell my boss about that, yeah. And I got this a few weeks ago," he touched the left side of his face, "when I played decoy for the boss on the last mission, yeah. Probably on future missions, too, come to think of it. Ah, I pro'ly should get used to the itchy wig, hm. Or maybe I could just dye it." He added the last part as a mumble, tentatively examining his blond locks.

The woman's smiled stretched further, "Speaking of, I heard from a little birdie that he's here as well."

The blond man's frown deepened. "Birdie's right, yeah. Was right as well when he said that the missy's ears are as sharp as the devil's, hm."

She merely chuckled.

The man sighed, pulling out a cloth bag tied with some rope. He tossed it over to the white-haired woman, "Hm, payment, yeah. Just like promised. We've still got something to take care of, so I'll best be off now."

"What a pity." The woman untied the string, pulling out a dark green fruit with swirls, "Any idea what this does?"

"Hm, not a clue." The man opened the suitcase, sifting through the maps a bit, "If you wanna an idea, try borrowing Whitebeard's encyclopedia, yeah. His is the most complete one there is, I heard."

"Hm . . . " The woman pouted a bit, putting the fruit back inside the cloth bag. "I've never actually crossed paths with him, or any of his higher-ups before. Teach is nice, though. Met him a few months back. We found this bakery where they made _the most_ _delicious_ apple pie."

The soft 'click' of the suitcase closing was heard. "Be careful 'bout tha' one, missy. Haven't you heard yet?"

"That he killed a commander? Of course I have," she smiled. "I'm the one who threw his most wanted thing at him in the first place."

* * *

A whisper of white caught on the edge of his vision, and Luffy stopped in his tracks, gazing over his shoulder.

"AH! SHIROKAMI-NEE-SAN!"

The woman in the gray dress looked over her shoulder, her long braid following the movement of her head.

Luffy grinned widely, quickly closing the distance between them with large steps. He laughed out loud, putting a hand on his hat and another on his hips as he planted himself right in front of her.

"Found you," he said playfully, grinning like there was no tomorrow.

The white-haired woman tilted her head to the side, her gray eyes giving him a quick once-over. Her glance rested a while longer on the curve of his mouth before a smile curled onto her lips.

"Hey there, Pirate King. It's been a while."

* * *

The building was old, and it had definitely seen better days. The once bright red brick was fading into a duller shade, and the apartment building the Pirate King had spent his childhood in was now nothing but a waiting shed for the more stubborn old-timers to while away in as they wait to die.

Captain Smoker pushed open the rickety front door, making his way up the squeaking iron staircase. He escaped the spiral at the third floor, walking down the narrow hallway to stand in front of a familiar door, its white paint cracked in several places and a rusty plaque with the number 302 engraved in black.

He knocked three times just to be polite before putting a hand on the doorknob and turning it.

"I have nothing to say to a cursed man who reeks of cigar! Go away!"

Smoker sighed, a cloud of dark gray smoke escaping from his mouth as he did so. He let his hand fade into smoke, creeping through the tiny space in between the door and its frame and turning the lock from the inside.

He stepped inside the old room, greeted by a warm and welcoming, "This is trespassing."

"I have proper authorization," Smoker replied lazily, closing the door behind him.

The tiny old woman on the rocking chair by the window sniffed, her lips pursed as she turned her attention back to her crocheting. "Let me guess: you received that authorization from yourself."

"Well, I _am_ the highest ranking Marine on this island," Smoker replied dryly, grabbing a nearby chair and setting it beside the old woman's rocking chair. Tiny, wrinkled hands held a pair of giant crochet needles with a steadiness that didn't suit her age; wisps of gray hair brushed over her forehead, escaping from the tight bun at the back of her head.

"The woman you met last night at the old Roger," he started.

Her lips turned up into a quirk, a certain gleam in her eyes as she looked at him.

"Meh, even a captain such as yourself wouldn't have authorization to know what we were talking about," she said wryly.

Smoker's teeth dug into the cigar in his mouth. "What's that supposed to mean? Wasn't that woman working for a private company?"

The old woman laughed, the sound coming out coarse and grainy. "Naïve as ever, I see."

Smoker took the cigar from his mouth, snubbing it on the cloth of his pants. He let out a breath of smoke, and it lazily drifted out the open window.

"I'll take whatever you can give."

The old woman laid the large needles across her lap, leaning back on her seat. She turned to him, the Cheshire Cat's grin on her face. "I can't give anything to a _Marine_."

Smoker narrowed his eyes.

"World Government?"

"Who knows?" she said lightly with a shrug of her shoulders. Picking up her large needles, she turned her attention back to her crocheting with a smile.

"You're not a dog of the government," Smoker said slowly, carefully observing even the smallest changes in her expression. "You've denied handing over your maps to them even under death threats, and your only protection is Sengoku and Garp, who were once your subordinates. Why now?"

"The Marines have their justice-waving murderers, the pirates have insane idiots drunk on freedom, and the World Government has the Tenryuubito," the woman said with a dry smile. "But every now and then, people who don't belong anywhere appear—they break away from the status quo and live by their own rules. Simply put, they change the world."

" . . . Where are you going with this?"

The old woman sighed, staring out the window. "The world is coming to a new era, boy, and there's no place in it for old-timers like me. The only way I can live forever is if I pass something on."

She turned to him with a smile, leaning back against her rocking chair once again. She closed her eyes and folded her hands across her lap, "They call her '_Poltergeist_'. I heard one of the former heads of Cipher Pol scouted her out himself, though I'm not quite sure which branch she went to. But, she's been missing for two years already. Rumor has it, she was the cause of that embarrassing lost for the Marines against Kaido's forces at Port Royal in South Blue—fed them information, you see. Though I can't be really sure if that's true, from all the rumors about her there are, she's always been an odd character. I do admit that something like that seems like something she would do, though, if you look at her track record long enough." She let out a wry chuckle.

Smoker narrowed his eyes. "Then, why would you leave your maps to someone like her?"

There was a certain edge to the way the old woman's lips curled up, "Because she promised me immortality."

* * *

"Over here, Luffy-kun!"

Luffy squeezed through the crowds to follow behind the white-haired woman, snacking on the pack of beef jerky he had grabbed from her pantry when they went to collect her bag at the place she was staying at.

Nobody was at the Merry when they dropped off her stuff there, so Luffy just had her lead him to the execution platform before they had to set sail.

"It's actually pretty easy to find, since it's, well, _in the middle of the island_ and all," she said when he caught up to her. "How'd you get to the other side of the city without passing through it?"

"The roads here are complicated," he whined, taking a few quick steps forward before turning around and walking backwards in front of her, his grin easily returning to his face. "Hey, hey, Alba-nee—have you been waiting long?"

She smiled at him, "I actually moved here a few months after I met you. They assigned me to the branch office here."

"Hm, really? Then is it okay to just leave like this?"

"I wrote up a resignation letter a couple of months ago. I left it with my apartment manager earlier," she said with a laugh. "I've always been wondering when you'd come, and then I saw your bounty poster the day before yesterday. Thirty mil is quite the price for East Blue; I see you've been beating up quite the infamous pirate crews."

Luffy grinned, scratching the back of his head with a hearty laugh. "Ushishishi! Is that so?"

She laughed along with him, "Maybe I really should've stuck with you earlier; sounds like you've been having lots of fun already, and you're not even at the Grand Line yet."

"I'll tell you all about our adventures so you can write them down at the ship later!" he said enthusiastically. "Everyone else can help with the stuff I don't remember."

"That reminds me, who else is on the crew?"

"Zoro was the first one I recruited," he said, counting on his fingers. "He's gonna be the best swordsman in the world. Then there's Nami, the navigator, Usopp, the liar, and Sanji, the cook. I still haven't found a musician, though." He shook his head forlornly at the last sentence.

She chuckled at him, "I'm sure we can find someone on the Grand Line—it's filled with lots of interesting people after all."

Luffy grinned up at her, "'Course!"

She beamed back at him, turning her gaze to the front. "Alright then. We're here."

Luffy stuffed the last piece of jerky into his mouth and walked across the plaza, staring up at the execution platform.

It was an old thing, weathered and covered up with polish. People were walking past it like it didn't even exist; like it was of no importance. That the place where the greatest pirate in the world had been put to death was nothing more than a troublesome display.

This was the place where the pirate era began.

Luffy turned to Alba with a grin, "Can I climb it?"

"I don't see why not," she replied with an easy smile.

Alba watched with a bit of wonder as his arms stretched out to grab the top of the platform, and he rocketed upwards.

So he was a Devil Fruit user. That certainly explained how he'd gotten such a high bounty.

Honestly, she had forgotten all about him after leaving his home island, but that grin brought all the memories back. She only saw his bounty poster in passing in the newspaper a few days ago, and while she did find his expression familiar, having him grinning like that in front of her gave her memory a quicker boost. She was only in Loguetown at this time because of the deal with the Revolutionaries. Although, she supposed it was fine to believe that Fate was at work here—her current job was now done and with nothing of particular importance to do next, an offer of an awesome journey across the Grand Line sounded like a fine way to while away her time.

She'd never fully explored the Grand Line before—it was mostly hopping from island to island due to her previous jobs. Picking a route in Paradise and traveling down it seemed like an entertaining adventure.

She was now sort of regretting lying to that green-haired swordsman earlier—no doubt he was with Luffy's crew. Of course, since she never told him her name, "white-haired journalist nee-san" was the only thing he had on her. She picked on some invisible lint on the sleeve of her fresh white blouse; it was a good thing she had changed when she and Luffy dropped by her room earlier. It made making up an excuse easier; she highly doubted it would take too much to lie to the green-haired swordsman. Like Luffy, he didn't seem like the brightest crayon in the box.

She watched as he stood at the top of the platform, smiling widely, like he was very much enjoying the view. People around her were quick to notice, and she was sure that the guards would be on the move already.

An officer in uniform soon came up with a loudspeaker, "Hey, you! Get down from there immediately!"

Luffy looked down, "Why?"

The officer was dumbstruck by the blunt reply, but he recovered quickly enough. "That is a historical landmark that belongs to the World Government! Get down from there right now—!"

He didn't get to finish his sentence as he was struck down by a large metal bat with spikes. The civilians started panicking, and a beautiful, dark-haired woman with a magnificent complexion smiled up at Luffy, the weapon that had struck down the officer laid at her shoulder.

The woman with the weapon glanced up at the boy on the platform, "Long time no see, Luffy. Don't tell me you've already forgotten who I am."

There was a glamour and confidence in her air that made the men all around want to grovel at her feet. Compliments were hurled and wolf-whistles abounded from those who lacked the sense to run away immediately—which was pretty much everyone, actually.

Luffy just stood on the platform, his eyebrows furrowed together. "Huh? I'm pretty sure I've never seen you before. Who're you?"

The woman raised a hand to touch her cheek, "I will never forget you; you're the first man to punch me in the face."

"What?" There was confusion in Luffy's tone. "I punched you in the face?"

The brim of her hat shadowed over her eyes, "Your heavy punch on my face—" she looked up at him with a coy smile, "I can still feel it."

Apparently, there was some kind of sexual innuendo there that Alba missed, as all the men started swooning.

The woman turned, her cloak flittering around her. She raised her hands, and with a completely self-assured voice, asked, "Everyone! Who is the most beautiful person in the world?"

"You!"

The white-haired woman's lips twitched up into a smile. While this woman was indeed beautiful, she still held nothing next to the Pirate Empress.

And that was coming from another female.

The dark-haired woman in the cloak smiled. "That's right. There is no man who would try to deny me, and I quite like strong men. Luffy!" She turned to the boy on the platform. "You must become mine!"

Alba swallowed back a laugh. She didn't expect the boy to be such a girl magnet, though she supposed she could somewhat understand his allure. He wasn't so hard on the eyes, and there was something in that child-like charm that was definitely attractive.

Or maybe it was the idea of the _stretching thing_.

Still unmoving from his stance at the platform, Luffy frowned. "Shut up. I don't care. Who are you anyway?"

The dark-haired woman recoiled in disbelief. "You still can't remember me?"

A flurry of footsteps and warning whistles echoed in her ears as a troop of police officers came running at them.

"Freeze! Don't move!" they shouted. "You are under arrest, for the charges of hurting a government officer! And that boy up there: get down here immediately!"

The dark-haired woman gracefully turned to them, her weapon resting on her shoulder, "You would really arrest me?"

It was sort of amusing how they were easily made to hesitate by her beauty.

That split moment of hesitation was all it took. There was a large explosion and the fountain flew up. A piece broke off and went flying straight for the dark-haired woman.

Sensing the blooming conflict, Alba quickly got out of the way. She stepped back into the shadows of the building behind the platform, standing in an area outside the soon-to-be-battle zone but from where she could still see everything unfold.

The fountain piece rubbed by the dark-haired woman's arm without even putting so much as a scratch on her.

Alba crossed her arms as she leant by a pillar. Clearly another Devil Fruit user.

"That's dangerous," the dark-haired woman said with a dramatic flair, brushing away a lock of hair.

A group of cloaked figures appeared, seeming to be the cause of the explosion. One of them, probably the leader, stepped forward, his high chuckle straining in an attempt to be evil.

"Sorry 'bout that! But you don't have to worry either way because your smooth skin can't have any scars, Lady Alvida."

Alba nearly choked on her spit. That beautiful woman was the hag with the iron mace, Alvida?

Holy shit, she needed that diet and beauty secret, _now_. She could already conjure up a lengthy mental list of customers who would pay millions of beli for it.

On the platform, Luffy stood as confused as ever. "Huh? Alvida? Where is she?"

"_I'm_ Alvida, you moron!" the beautiful, dark-haired woman snapped back.

Luffy frowned, his eyebrows furrowing together. "Really?" he asked hesitantly. "You've changed a lot."

She chuckled, throwing away her cloak and revealing a very nice body. "As you can see, I've changed since I ate a Devil Fruit called the Sube Sube no Mi." She put a hand on her hip, posing like a model. "From now on, no matter how you attack, you won't be able to leave any scars on my skin. However, my beauty hasn't changed; the only thing that's new is that I lost all my acne."

Luffy waved a hand in front of his face, "No, that's not the problem."

Alvida scoffed, crossing her arms in front of her. "In any case, if you lose to these guys, you can't become my man! I only worked with them because we had the same goal, and that's to look for you."

The cloaked men threw their cloaks away, revealing themselves to be a bunch of ridiculously dressed pirates. At the lead was a man with a red nose that Luffy easily recognized.

"Since you defeated me on that day, I made a vow that I will eventually kill you!" Buggy dramatically shouted out to Luffy. "The adventure I had when my body was split up was filled with happiness, sadness and friendship!"

"Captain Buggy went through lots of tough situations, but he was able to get through all of that!" his crew shouted.

Luffy put his hands on his waist, replying with an anti-climactic, "Oh. It's just Buggy."

"Stop insulting me!" Buggy screeched. Huffing, he crossed his arms, "I see you still have that foul mouth of yours!"

Buggy's crew started taking out their weapons, easily making the police falter in their advance and the rest of the civilians back away.

What a fearless bunch.

Buggy threw his hand back, his obnoxious cape flying behind him. He addressed everyone still in the plaza, "Don't move! I'll show you our real power!"

Alba heard a thump above her and moved slightly from her position to better view the top of the platform. Luffy had been caught, his head and arms bound in wooden constraints. A long-limbed man with a checkered scarf kept watch of him.

"Aiyaaah . . . " Alba mumbled to herself, bringing up a hand to cover her eyes. "Maybe I should go help . . . ?"

A deep and scratchy voice sounded from behind her, and for the first time in quite a while, shivers ran down her spine. An overwhelming presence consumed her, making her breath hitch.

A face leaned over her shoulder, and she caught red at the corner of her eye.

"I would advise against that, for the moment."

* * *

Ace let out a loud laugh, and the others soon followed suit.

"Oi, oi! Teach! What's this supposed to be? I sent you guys to deal with some people who were messing with our territories, not go pie-shopping!"

"Never changes, that one," Marco commented from his seat beside Ace, shaking his head. He picked out a couple of cards from his hand and threw them to the pile they had on the wooden crate.

"Ooh, Commanduh!" Teach walked over to where they had been playing a game of cards, dropping the boxes in his arms beside them. "You'd neva' guess! I met this pretty lady at tha' island; we ended up talkin' a bit, an' then we came across this bakery where they made some great apple pies!"

Everyone burst out into even louder laughter.

"Well, that's Teach for you!" Ace forced out in between his bouts of laughter. "Meets a pretty girl and brings back pie as a souvenir!"

They opened up Teach's pies as they laughed and shared stories, and even the old man admitted that it was good pie.

* * *

**To be continued . . .**

* * *

Chapter Four should be out early February. I might take this on a monthly update for now, since it's the second half of the term in my college, and that means exams and projects around March. No promises, though. But I assure you, I'm already working on the next chapter, which would be the end of the Loguetown Arc. Laboon's up in Chapter 5. ;)

Read and review, please. :)


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